Soledad approves wastewater staffing reorganization to bolster maintenance at aging plant

The Soledad City Council voted on Oct. 2 to approve a reorganization of the Public Works Department’s wastewater operations, funding a now‑staffed third utility maintenance mechanic and changing a maintenance manager role to a maintenance supervisor to improve preventive maintenance at the city’s wastewater facility.

Public Works Director Don Wilcox told the council the plant is roughly 16 years old and has grown more maintenance‑intensive as systems age. "There’s thousands of components from pumps to sensors, to motors, to everything electronic, mechanical," Wilcox said during the presentation. Staff described the work as covering both daily operations and extensive preventive maintenance on rapid infiltration basins, pumps and other infrastructure.

Council members who toured the facility asked how the reorganization would be funded and whether the change would require rate increases. Finance Director Mike Tower explained that the majority of the position’s cost had already been included in the adopted budget as an unfunded line item; the action moves the position from unfunded to funded. Tower told council the incremental cost for the remainder of the fiscal year was small (the transcript records roughly $4,000 for the remaining seven months) and that the majority of the position’s cost was already planned in the budget.

Council also discussed internal recruitment and the opportunity to promote existing staff into the maintenance role; public works said it had an internal candidate available for transfer. Don Wilcox and council members said the added on‑site capacity should reduce expensive emergency contractor work and improve response times.

The council approved the reorganization and funding in a recorded voice vote; the transcript records the motion carried with a majority in favor and one recorded absence on the roll call.

What happens next: staff will begin recruitment/assignment to the funded mechanic position and proceed with a preventive maintenance program and work‑order system to better track maintenance needs and vendor coordination.